Court issues NBW against Ram Gopal Varma in cheque bounce case

A sessions court here has issued a non-bailable warrant against filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma after rejecting his plea for suspension of jail sentence in a cheque bounce case. Earlier, on January 21, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) in Andheri, Y P Pujari, convicted Varma for the offence punishable under provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The magistrate had sentenced the filmmaker to three-month jail term and directed him to pay Rs 3,72,219 to the complainant within three months. The filmmaker subsequently filed an appeal before the sessions court, seeking suspension of the sentence.

Additional Sessions Judge A A Kulkarni, however, rejected his plea on March 4 and issued NBW against the filmmaker as he did not appear before the court and rejected his plea for suspension of the jail sentence. The matter has been adjourned to July 28 for execution of the warrant.

The judge said the accused is at the liberty to file for bail after appearing before the court. A company in 2018 lodged a cheque bounce complaint against Varma's firm. Advocates Rajesh Kumar Patel, appearing for the complainant's company, had filed an affidavit before the magistrate court that the company was engaged in the business of providing hard disks for the last several years.

As per the request of the accused, it had provided hard disks between February 2018 and March 2018, based on which various tax invoices amounting to Rs 2,38,220 were raised, the affidavit said. The accused issued a cheque on June 1, 2018 to the complainant, which was dishonoured for insufficient funds, it said.

After this fact was brought to the notice of Varma's firm, a second cheque of the same amount was issued, which too was dishonoured due to "payment stopped by drawer". The complainant was left with no option to avail legal remedy, the affidavit had added. Varma is known for making films like "Satya", "Rangeela", "Company" and "Sarkar", among others.